Agenda item

To approve a brief for the Scrutiny Investigation.

To adopt the Gwynedd Category 3 Secondary Schools Scrutiny Investigation Brief and to elect Councillors Cai Larsen, Beth Lawton, Huw Rowlands, Paul Rowlinson and Rhys Tudur to undertake the investigation work.

Submitted – a brief for the Scrutiny Investigation of Category 3 Secondary Schools in Gwynedd.  The committee was invited to adopt the brief and to elect a maximum of five members to be part of the investigation, with the membership to include no fewer than two different political groups.

It was noted that members had been invited to express an interest in being members of the investigation during the informal meeting of the committee on 8 December 2022. Expressions of interest had been received from Councillors Cai Larsen, Huw Rowlands, Paul Rowlinson and Rhys Tudur following the meeting.

It was noted that there was no representation from Meirionnydd amongst the names, or a female, or a representative from the Independent Group, and as such the Chair, Councillor Beth Lawton, was suggested.

The investigation brief was then discussed.  The following was noted:-

·         The report specified that the main question to be addressed by the investigation was: ‘What is the Welsh medium provision in our secondary schools...'. but this should be known to the Authority. It was not a matter for the investigation to determine what was the provision, but rather to scrutinise that provision.

·         The brief reflected the reality, which was that the Education Department was unclear what the Welsh-language provision was at present, and the fact that this exercise was happening at all was the consequence of a disgraceful lack of monitoring in this field, and it cast doubt over all the statistics that had been gathered over the years. The teachers knew full-well who did assessments and essays in what language, and the member could not understand why the Education Department could not cast a light on what the current provision was.  In response, the Chair stated that the investigation would hopefully cast a light on this.

·         The three schools that had been selected to be part of this investigation were some of the most Welsh-speaking schools in Gwynedd, and the investigation would not find a representational picture of the situation across the county by only visiting those schools.  On the contrary, it was suggested that there was no point going to the least Welsh schools, and the three schools selected were not believed to be an inappropriate mix.  In response, it was explained that the Education Department had suggested the three schools (one in Arfon, one in Dwyfor and one in Meirionnydd) on the basis that post-16 considerations could be included in two out of the three schools.  The matter had also been discussed at the Secondary Headteachers Forum in terms of which schools were willing to participate in the investigation.

·         Certainty was needed that the brief contained a questionnaire for each secondary school in order to gain an approximate picture of the situation county-wide before the working group selected the three most representational schools to be scrutinised in detail.

·         As well as the questions listed in Part B of the brief, we should also ask what the baseline was and what support did the Department provide to help the schools realise the aim.

·         As well as the stakeholders listed in Part CH of the brief, it would also be useful to speak with the Head of Curriculum, the Head of Welsh, the School Council and representation from amongst the assistants.

RESOLVED to adopt the Scrutiny Investigation Brief for Gwynedd Category 3 Secondary Schools and to elect Councillors Cai Larsen, Beth Lawton, Huw Rowlands, Paul Rowlinson and Rhys Tudur to undertake the investigation work.